QUESTION
In 750 words or more, discuss whether you feel bureaucracy and its emphasis on efficiency is “inevitable” within modern society if that society hopes to continue to evolve and remain “modern.” If you do not think it is inevitable, provide an alternative organizational structure that might support contemporary society.
ANSWER
BUREAUCRACY AND ITS EMPHASIS ON EFFICIENCY
Introduction
In the modern socio-political structure where the focus of the government is on the welfare of the people, it becomes problematic for the political authorities to conduct all the services alone. In fact, most of the services are delegated to the permanent executive that acts on the background of the government supporting it in its political and socio-welfare endeavors.
The essay lays emphasis on analysing whether Bureaucracy lays a strong emphasis on efficiency in order to maintain the modern status of the society. At the end of the essay, an alternative structure of the organisation will be established to support the new modern society.
Among the most prominent sociologists and political scientists, the contribution of Max Weber has been most significant in analysing and studying the concept of bureaucracy. According to Serpa & Ferreira (2019), Weber believed that Bureaucracy is inevitable in modern society because modern society is sure to move toward rationalization. Modern society would want to implement reason in order to solve the general problems that are faced by the people. An answer to the general political problems will be the concept of bureaucracy that will aim to increase efficiency and decrease the incidence of uncertainty.
According to Serpa & Ferreira (2019), Bureaucracy is legal domination. Hence, the emphasis is automatically more on increasing the efficiency of the government.
It can be said that the very basis of the bureaucratic establishment is to increase the efficiency within the government. According to Cox III & Haruna (2018), the modern bureaucracy in the USA is a result of the conglomeration of two distinct movements in the country. One is the urban reform movement and another is the scientific management philosophy. The separation of politics from that of the bureaucracy was to ensure that the later become apolitical and efficient in carrying out its functions like advising the government and efficiently implementing the welfare policies that are set forth by the government. According to Almashat & Thabet (2019), good bureaucracy can be established only when it is non-politicized. Hence, for efficient bureaucracies non-politicization of the bureaucracies is important. The government passes the welfare bills in a very sketchy manner. The bureaucracy does the real inclusions. Cox III & Haruna (2018) stated that bureaucratic heads must behave responsibly and there are three main connotations of responsibility namely accountability, obligation and causality. These three connotations form the very basis of efficiency.
In order to create a new political setup for modern society, it is important to strike a balance among the bureaucratic powers and the checks and balances imposed on the bureaucracy. According to Rosser (2018), three important concepts of domination, legitimacy and authority is likely to dominate the modern society where bureaucracy is likely to take up the responsibility of the welfare state. Rosser (2018) stated that Weber has defined dominance as the power to ask for obedience from the people of the welfare state. Legitimacy, on the other hand, is the willingness of the people to abide by the commands of the powerful position. The legitimacy is the political nod that is given to the bureaucracy to carry out its assigned duties. Thus, the new society will be set up based on hierarchy, the rights and duties assigned to the bureaucracy to carry out the duties and finally, checks and balances carried out by the political heads who are elected by the people of the country. The government should act like a corporation that sees the market as a means to earn a profit so that the profit can be used for the welfare of the people. According to Meier et al. (2018), bureaucracies have inherent features of adapting to any situation that is offered by the political setup of the country. It facilitates administrative confluence. Hence, even if the political set up fails, the bureaucracy must continue to do its work. As stated by Jung, Bozeman & Gaughan (2018), the public sector is a foundation of greater formalization and red-tapism is a common notion. Thus, this notion must be changed.
Conclusion
The essay analyses the result of a welfare state and provides justifications for the claim. The modern bureaucracy enjoys certain privileges like the non-removability of the judges, and the civil servants are urged to stay in office until 60 to 65 years of age. This would ensure that the full focus of the civil servants would be on the service of the states and not on any other secondary professions. Thus, the idea of a new social and political society to adjust with the new and altered bureaucratic roles has been laid down in the essay. The alternative society will however, ensure the welfare of the people and economic development as well.
Reference
Almashat, A., & Thabet, S. (2019). State survival bureaucracy (SSB): state sustainability after Arab revolutions. Review of Economics and Political Science. Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/REPS-09-2018-0001
Cox III, R. W., & Haruna, P. F. (2018). Recovering responsibility and integrity in public service-a focus on fundamental principles and values of governance. African Journal of Public Affairs, 10(3), 61-81. Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from https://journals.co.za/content/journal/10520/EJC-11494f9019?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf
Jung, J., Bozeman, B., & Gaughan, M. (2018). Fear in Bureaucracy: Comparing Public and Private Sector Workers’ Expectations of Punishment. Administration & Society, 0095399718783647. Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jiwon_Jung14/publication/326130651_Fear_in_Bureaucracy_Comparing_Public_and_Private_Sector_Workers%27_Expectations_of_Punishment/links/5b3e6815a6fdcc8506f8c271/Fear-in-Bureaucracy-Comparing-Public-and-Private-Sector-Workers-Expectations-of-Punishment.pdf
Meier, K. J., Compton, M., Polga-Hecimovich, J., Song, M., & Wimpy, C. (2018). Politics, Bureaucracy, and Successful Governance: The Problem of Political Failure. American University School of Public Affairs Research Paper, (3268959). Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Polga-Hecimovich/publication/328472805_Politics_Bureaucracy_and_Successful_Governance_The_Problem_of_Political_Failure/links/5bdb1ab4299bf1124fb32217/Politics-Bureaucracy-and-Successful-Governance-The-Problem-of-Political-Failure.pdf
Rosser, C. (2018). Max Weber’s Bequest for European Public Administration. In The Palgrave Handbook of Public Administration and Management in Europe (pp. 1011-1029). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christian_Rosser/publication/321369909_Max_Weber’s_Bequest_for_European_Public_Administration/links/5a2511c0aca2727dd87e75b7/Max-Webers-Bequest-for-European-Public-Administration.pdf
Serpa, S., & Ferreira, C. M. (2019). The Concept of Bureaucracy by Max Weber. International Journal of Social Science Studies, 7(2), 12-18. Retrieved on 8th March 2019 from http://redfame.com/journal/index.php/ijsss/article/view/3979
Looking for best Sociology Assignment Help. Whatsapp us at +16469488918 or chat with our chat representative showing on lower right corner or order from here. You can also take help from our Live Assignment helper for any exam or live assignment related assistance